Staten Island Advance/Anthony DePrimoStephanie Aubry, 62, and her grandson, Rodney Alex Gonzalez, prefer to live out of a 2001 Pontiac GrandAm rather than spend the night at a local low-priced hotel or motel.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Their home leaks oil and needs a brake job.

They pick different neighborhoods each night to sleep in.

Stephanie Aubry- a Staten Island resident since 1972 and a 62-year-old mother of three who has supported herself by working her entire life - lives in her gold 2001 Pontiac GrandAm with her 18-year-old grandson, Rodney Alex Gonzalez.

When the unemployment payments stopped, she fell behind in her rent, and finally lost her apartment on November 30, 2010.

Mrs. Aubry actively sought, but until now has been able to find, another job, and speculated that age discrimination might be one explanation. SHELTER REFERRALS

When Mrs. Aubry first approached Project Hospitality for help, seeking shelter for herself and her grandson, the nonprofit organization referred her to three privately owned motels on the Island.

She found the conditions "horrifying," and she refused them all.

She contacted Project Hospitality, and complained about the conditions.

"(They) told me that these places are inspected, and that they passed inspection," she told the Advance.

Ms. Aubry has been in the sights of the city's Department of Homeless Services since April, press secretary Heather Janik told the Advance earlier this month.

"Homeless Services outreach teams have been aggressively working with Ms. Aubry offering every option available to bring her into housing since learning about her case in April. To date, she has declined all services. We will continue to reach out to her and maintain a relationship in hopes that she will soon be receptive to one of the alternatives offered to her," the press secretary said.

'NOWHERE TO GO'

"I am a working woman who lost her unemployment, and I don't smoke, drink, or do drugs," said Mrs. Aubry. "I don't know where I went wrong ... it's a cold world.

"We have nowhere to go tonight," she said during a cell-phone call from her car, which was parked outside the Starbucks in New Dorp. "It's bad when you don't have money for a cup of coffee, and the gas tank is on empty. We've had no luck tonight at all."

With her was grandson Rodney, whose mother, Brenda Donato, died in January 2008 at age 37. "He's like my own son now," Mrs. Aubry said, her voice breaking, as she explained that she and her daughter Brenda raised Rodney together.

As the family experienced crisis, Rodney dropped out of New Dorp High School.

Before he teamed up with his grandmother, he spent nights sleeping alone on the N train, followed by a three-week stint at the Covenant House shelter for teens on West 41st Street in Manhattan. He was "kicked out" of the facility when his sneakers were stolen and he got into a fight about it, he told the Advance.

Rodney wants to join the U.S. Coast Guard, and has been in contact with recruiters, but first must complete his GED.

There's a free course this summer at CSI, he said, but he needs his birth certificate to complete the application process. That document, and other personal possessions "are in a huge duffel bag at Covenant House," he said. The bag is too large and heavy for him to retrieve via a public-transit commute, and his grandmother lacks the money for gas and tolls to drive him to Manhattan to retrieve it. And there's one more problem: His only pair of sneakers are filled with holes, and he's too embarrassed to go to CSI "looking like" a homeless person, he said.

'DOWN AND OUT'

Mrs. Aubry was born in Manhattan, and moved to Staten Island in 1972, settling in West Brighton with her two young daughters. "My sister-in-law lived here, and I wanted a safer environment for my children," she said. Her third daughter was born on the Island.

The reaction of friends to her recent hard times leaves her perplexed.

"I'm a good person, and a good Christian," she said. "Close friends, whom I helped so much over the years, are now treating me like I come from Mars. They seem to forget how much I was there for them. You really know who your friends are when you are down and out."

"I've worked all my life, starting at 13, in handbag factories in Manhattan, when I was still in school," she said. Her current job search has been difficult, and she's had no offers so far.

"I've been making the effort -- I've filled out so many job applications but I get no replies. I ask everyone I know about possible jobs. I'm willing to drive a limo, but I get the sense from the companies that I've called that they prefer hiring men to women," she added.

When money is available, Mrs. Aubry and her grandson drive across the Outerbridge, and spend the night in a room at the Day's Inn in Woodbridge, N.J. "They know us, and are real nice to us there," she said.

The motel room cost $74.75 a night, including taxes, an expense that Mrs. Aubry cannot afford on a daily basis. The city's Department of Homeless Services cannot pay for this nightly lodging in New Jersey because it exceeds the agency's approved daily rate.

"I've been praying for the opportunity to tell our story. It's not just about us. There are so many other people in the same situation, across the country, and everyone needs to know what's going on." she said.